This was sure a fun event, and we're hopeful that those who volunteered had a good time, and that those who attended the Open Source Lab learned things that were valuable to them.

Things you liked:

• Being in a prominent location
• Having handouts and samples for guests to take home

Things you wished had been different:

• The lighting in the Sails Pavilion made it hard to see the plasma screen and the laptop screens (unique to this venue, though)
• Would have liked more student participation (Jeff Elkner has received an OK to bring students to Atlanta!)
• Playground booths were so separated from the lab that they didn't get as much traffic as they might have

Suggestions for future events:

• Maybe two speaking tracks? There are certainly enough topics.
• Probably we should to emphasize the "hands on" nature of the lab (which was somewhat crippled by the lighting/acoustics anyhow this year). So the "hands on track" would be in the lab and other open source talks will just be regular talks. I think it is important to have a clear reason for keeping the lab around in its current form (good to have a visible presence) while adding more FOSS talks in the main conference.
• Videotaping (or screen capture or other recording mechanisms)
• Contact Open Office, Mozilla, other projects to send people specifically for hands-on booths
• A social event not just for the organizers and volunteers, but for anyone using Open Source or interested--maybe a Thursday night barbeque? We had a lot of people who attended multiple sessions or were just camped out in the lab
• One day for the playground booths is probably sufficient, at least from the point of view of a volunteer manning one. Perhaps that is less the case for people who wouldn't otherwise be at NECC, but it is rough if you've got other things you'd like to do.
• There were visitors at the playground booths both days they were open. More volunteers per booth would spread the load.
• Perhaps lists of contacts that people could get back to later during their school year.

People you would like to thank:

• Anita McAnear and the ISTE staff for supporting the Open Source lab. The location was terrific, the signs were GREAT, and the help all along has been wonderful.
• Steven and Adam Wyatt for the computers. Huge.
• Paul Nelson for carrying the torch, for coming this year, and for podcasting and picture-posting.
• Mike Huffman for visiting and talking about Indiana in the Birds of a Feather meeting
• The great volunteers!
  • Kevin, Jeff, and Nick--who came a long way and made sure everything went smoothly
  • Sharon--can you believe we forgot the cleaning supplies? :)
  • Deacon John, Jerry, and Dan--who kept the information booth going, and going, and going...
  • George, Carl, Jim, and Jim--couldn't have been set up without you!
  • All the hands-on booth help: Matt, Tom, Adam, Aurelia, Randy, Kendall, and Ken--great work.
• All our great speakers!
• Steve - a terrific job.